Michael Finewax

The Week Ahead

Giroux or Hartnell?

Edmonton plays only twice this week so we can recommend resting all your Oilers with the exception of dynamic rookie Ryan Nugent_Hopkinsn as well as Jordan Eberle. The Oilers will be rested on Thursday when they face a tired Coyotes team in Phoenix after they face the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday. Andy Sutton was hit with an indefinite suspension for his hit on the Hurricanes Alexei Ponikarovsky. Taylor Hall skated with his teammates on December 7 for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury on November 26. Sam Gagner finally scored on Saturday for the first time this season and now has nine points in 21 games. Ryan Whitney is still getting acclimated to the NHL after missing most of last season and the start of the 2011-12 season. He has only one assist and is a minus-five in 11 games but don’t give up on him as he is the Oilers best offensive defenseman.

FLORIDA

Games this week

vs. New Jersey, vs. Calgary, vs. Carolina

Notes

The Panthers play three home games this week and are rested and playing tired teams in two of them. Both times the opposing team faces their cross-state rivals from Tampa Bay as New Jersey is in Sunrise on Tuesday and Calgary on Friday. Jose Theodore celebrated his 600th NHL game by stopping all 40 shots in a 2-0 win over Boston. Theodore is 5-1-1 in his last seven and a major reason the Panthers are doing so well in the standings. Mikael Samuelsson played 9:48 minutes in his first game as a member of the Panthers. He last played on October 18th as he had been suffering from a groin injury and was dealt from the Canucks in the interim. Matt Bradley has been out since November 15 but is close to returning to action.

LOS ANGELES

Games this week

@ Boston, @ Columbus, @ Detroit

Notes

The Kings are on the road for all three games this week. Mike Richards suffered a concussion on December 1, and while he has not been on the ice since, he has been riding the stationary bike and that is good news because at least he is exercising. Justin Williams did not get a goal in the month of November. Slava Voynov has scored four times in limited action on the Kings blueline. He is seeing second power play time and deserves to be taken in deeper drafts. Scott Parse underwent hip surgery on December 2, and will miss four-to-five months as a result. Dustin Penner has scored two goals in his last two games after scoring only once in October and November.

MINNESOTA

Games this week

@ Winnipeg, vs. Chicago, vs. New York Islanders

Notes

Minnesota will be tired on Tuesday when they face Chicago as they are in Winnipeg on Monday while the Blackhawks cool their jets and wait for the Wild in Minnesota. It seems that no matter who the Wild put in net, they win. With Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding both ailing, Matthew Hackett played on Thursday as the Wild continued their winning ways with their sixth win in a row. They currently lead the NHL in points with 41 and anyone who predicted that before the start of the season can consider themselves on par with Nostradamus. The Wild have a few injuries with Cal Clutterbuck, Devin Setoguchi, Guillaume Latendresse, Marek Zidlicky and Justin Falk in addition to Harding, are out of action.

MONTREAL

Games this week

vs. New York Islanders, vs. Philadelphia, vs. New Jersey

Notes

Les Canadiens play all three games at home this week and will be waiting patiently and well rested on Saturday when a tired New Jersey squad comes into town after playing the Dallas Stars on Friday night. It was thought by fantasy players that Erik Cole could only be good in Carolina but he has 18 points in 29 games this season in his first season in Montreal to push those fears aside. It was another big setback for defenseman Andrei Markov. It was thought he was close to returning to action this past week but he underwent additional surgery on Monday and now will be out of action up to six more weeks with his injured knee. He has yet to play this season and has participated in only seven games since the start of the 2010-11 season. Louis Leblanc picked up his first point of his NHL career on December 3. The 18th overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft underwent major shoulder surgery in the off-season and it was thought that he may have needed six months to recover so to see him in the NHL seven months later, bodes well for Leblanc and the Canadiens.

NASHVILLE

Games this week

vs. Calgary, vs. Detroit, vs. St. Louis

Notes

Jordin Tootoo received a two game suspension for flattening goaltender Ryan Miller in his crease on Saturday but that did not seem to faze the Nashville forward who thought he was just trying to score. The Predators play all three games at home this week but are 4-5-3 this season thus far after winning 20-plus games at home every season since before the lockout in 2003-04. Rookie Craig Smith continues to lead the team in points with 22, two ahead of stud defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Martin Erat is having a typical Erat-type season with 16 points in 20 games. Top defensive pairing Weber and Suter are plus-14 and 12 respectively while the second pairing of Kevin Klein and Jonathan Blum are minus-14 and 11.

NEW JERSEY

Games this week

@ Tampa Bay, @ Florida, vs. Dallas, @ Montreal

Notes

The Devils play four times this week in a pair of back-to-back games. They are a tired team playing a rested team twice this week, on Tuesday in Florida and Saturday in Montreal after spending the previous nights in Tampa Bay Monday and at home versus Dallas Friday. They are the rested team on Friday as Dallas takes on the Islanders Thursday. Martin Brodeur continues to struggle this season with a 6-7-0 record and a .882 save percentage to go with a 3.27 GAA, but he’s come back too many times in his career to just give up on him, even though he is a second or third fantasy goalie in deeper pools at this time. Mattias Tedenby had only three assists in his first 24 games before the Devils decided to try to get him going by playing him with Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. He picked up his first goal of the season on Thursday, also tying a season high with four shots on goal.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Games this week

@ Montreal, vs. Dallas, @ Minnesota

Notes

Michael Grabner has only eight goals and 12 points in 25 games this season after potting 33 goals in his rookie 2010-11 season. Nino Niederreiter has been able to work in the weight room this week despite suffering a concussion on Saturday. He was hit by the Stars Mark Fistric who picked up a three game suspension for his misdeed. Rick DiPietro is hurt yet again so Al Montoya has the starting job while Evgeni Nabokov is close to returning from a groin injury. Defenseman Andrew McDonald is due to miss the next two-four weeks with a leg injury. Matt Moulson has 14 goals and 22 points after scoring eight times and adding three assists in his last six games. He was named the NHL’s first star for the week ending December 4 after a four goal game on Saturday.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Games this week

vs. Dallas, @ St. Louis, @ Phoenix

Notes

Anton Stralman played in only his second game for the Rangers on Thursday as he replaced the concussed Michael Sauer in the lineup. Stralman should get some power play time when he is playing. Marc Staal is starting to skate for the first time in a long time as he tries to return from a concussion suffered last season and has kept him on the shelf for the entire 2011-12 season thus far. Michael Rupp has started to skate after undergoing knee surgery on November 9 and is slated to return before Christmas if there are no setbacks. Artem Anisimov’s antics after scoring on Thursday touched off a mini-brawl that had players on both teams saying that Anisimov went too far in his celebration. Anisimov’s fantasy owners did not mind as in addition to the goal, he picked up 16 minutes in penalties to give him 26 this season. Brad Richards leads the Rangers in points with 24 but Ryan Callahan is a much better fantasy player as Richards is ahead of him only in assists (and points) while Callahan has more goals, power play goals, penalty minutes and plus/minus.

OTTAWA

Games this week

@ Buffalo, vs. Boston, vs. Pittsburgh

Notes

The Senators play three games in four nights so look for Craig Anderson to see most of the action in goal although Alexander Auld could see action in one game. Milan Michalek leads the NHL in goals with 18 heading into Friday’s action. Matt Carkner has been out all season with a knee injury. He will be good for an occasional point as well as plenty of penalty minutes. Peter Regin is back skating after suffering a shoulder surgery on Oct. 20. Chris Neil is back after missing nine games with an ankle injury. He is a nice combination of penalty minutes and points.

This is the last week for trades to be made in the NHL as a moratorium will take place from December 19 through the Christmas break.

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund will sell 75 percent of MLSEL to Canadian telecommunication giants BCE and Rogers with current owner Larry Tanenbaum acquiring the last five percent of that to bring his total to 25 percent. The deal will be completed in the summer and include the Toronto Raptors and all their real estate holdings as well as Toronto FC of the MSL. The deal will pay the pension fund $1.32 billion.

Had a discussion with my brother Larry over who was the better fantasy player, Claude Giroux or Scott Hartnell. Your thoughts are welcome.

James O’Brien has been writing a great column, The Daily Dose, usually done from Monday to Friday during the regular season. If you want it sent directly to you via e-mail, click on the NHL box in your Rotoworld profile.

Uh oh. Sidney Crosby collided with teammate Chris Kunitz, or maybe it was the collision with David Krejci later in the game on Tuesday, and will sit out at least two games to make sure he doesn’t have any concussion issues.

The Ducks play three games in four nights so look for Dan Ellis to get one start in place of Jonas Hiller. The Ducks will be tired on Saturday as they face a rested Jets team in Winnipeg after playing in Chicago the previous night. Teemu Selanne gave Bobby Ryan a pep talk before Tuesday’s game and it worked wonders as Ryan scored twice in a 3-2 win. Enforcer George Parros is back after missing a month with an eye injury. Matt Beleskey is back on the first line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry after Bobby Ryan briefly returned to the top unit.

BOSTON

Games this week

vs. Los Angeles, @ Ottawa, @ Philadelphia

Notes

Tyler Seguin is off to a tremendous start but there was a definite blip this past week when he was made a healthy scratch by coach Claude Julian for missing a team meeting and breakfast, and apparently it was not the first time that he has been out late the previous night. The Bruins went into Winnipeg riding a 15-game unbeaten streak (14-0-1) but were finally defeated in regulation for the first time since the end of October. The Bruins have five players in the top ten in plus/minus, led by Seguin and Zdeno Chara who are plus-19 heading into action on Thursday. The other three are Chris Kelly, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron with Johnny Boychuk just behind in 11th.

BUFFALO

Games this week

vs. Ottawa, vs. Toronto, @ Pittsburgh

Notes

Drew Stafford was mired in a terrible goal scoring slump before potting his first in 14 games on Wednesday. Ryan Miller was not at all happy after getting run over by Jordin Tootoo on Saturday, a hit that got Tootoo suspended for two. Tyler Ennis is back after missing a month of action with an ankle injury. Jason Pominville has 11 points on the power play including three goals. Patrik Kaleta leads the Sabres in penalty minutes with 34 despite missing seven of 23 games thus far.

CALGARY

Games this week

@ Nashville, @ Tampa Bay, @ Florida, @ Chicago

Notes

Calgary plays all four on the road, including three games in four nights, Henrik Karlsson is out six-eight weeks with a tear in his MCL so Leland Irving could get a start in relief of Miikka Kiprusoff this week. The Flames will be tired on Friday in Miami when they face a rested Florida squad as Calgary will play Tampa Bay Thursday. Brendan Morrison played extremely well as a winger on the top line Tuesday with a couple of goals and four points and will now center the second line. David Moss is getting closer to returning to action from a foot injury. Curtis Glencross sat out Tuesday’s game with the flu but is safe to start this week as he had a goal and an assist in his return on Thursday.

CAROLINA

Games this week

@ Calgary, @ Edmonton, @ Winnipeg

Notes

Mike Murphy became the first NHL goalie to make his debut with a loss and not allow a goal. He came into the Calgary game with nine minutes left, stopped a couple of shots and was pulled when the Hurricanes were down by a goal. The Flames scored into the empty net, but Carolina scored after that, giving Murphy the loss. Quite strange. Joni Pitkanen is out with an upper body injury. Eric Staal is second in the NHL in shots on goal with 107 heading into Thursday’s action and has been coming on scoring-wise of late with three goals and eight points in his last six games after picking up only 10 in his first 24 games of the season. Carolina traded Tomas Kaberle on Friday to Montreal in exchange for Jaroslav Spacek. Hopefully the deal will help both teams.

CHICAGO

Games this week

@ Minnesota, vs. Anaheim, vs. Calgary

Notes

Chicago will be rested on Wednesday when they are in Minnesota waiting for the Wild who take on the Jets in Winnipeg the previous night. Jonathan Toews is white-hot with 13 points in his last seven games. Corey Crawford is having his troubles in his second NHL season. While his 12 wins are tied for sixth overall in the NHL, his 3.00 GAA and .896 save percentage are hurting you fantasy-wise. Marcus Kruger continues to play on the second line alongside Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp, despite a goose egg in points in three games. The Blackhawks penalty killing is killing them as they rank fourth last in the NHL at 76.9 percent.

COLORADO

Games this week

vs. San Jose, @ San Jose, vs. Washington

Notes

The Avalanche play the Sharks in back-to-back games so tempers may flare in both games. Look for Cody McLeod and Shane O'Brien (no relation to Rotoworld’s James) to be involved in fisticuffs if there is any trouble in either game. Paul Stastny is likely out of action with a torso injury. Kevin Porter could be suspended for his hit on the Canuck’s David Booth who will be out of action for four-six weeks with a sprained MCL. Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been outstanding in limited action as he has the second-best GAA in the NHL at 1.81 and a .925 save percentage heading into action on Thursday. Erik Johnson and Jan Hejda are minus-12 and minus-16 respectively.

COLUMBUS

Games this week

vs. Vancouver, vs. Los Angeles, vs. Tampa Bay, @ St. Louis

Notes

The Blue Jackets play four games this week, including three in four nights so expect to see Curtis Sanford and Steve Mason split the net. Kristian Huselius played only two games for the Blue Jackets before suffering a groin injury this past week that will keep him out of the lineup for the next four-six weeks. Derick Brassard, who had been a healthy scratch in eight of his last 12 games, was placed on the second line with Antoine Vermette and Ryan Johansen Thursday. It sure was easy to get R.J. Umberger out of his slump. The Blue Jackets threatened to drop him to the fourth line on Tuesday after he had only two points in his last 14 games and he responded with a goal and an assist in the shootout win.

DALLAS

Games this week

@ New York Rangers, @ New York Islanders, @ New Jersey

Notes

Dallas finishes off a five game road trip as they fly from California to play three games in four nights in the New York metropolitan area. Kari Lehtonen is still out with a pulled groin so Richard Bachman could get a start in goal in place of Andrew Raycroft. They could be tired on Friday when they play the Devils after facing the Islanders Thursday. The Stars received good news when Trevor Daley, Brenden Morrow and Alex Goligoski all returned from various ailments to the lineup on Thursday. Eric Nystrom is having a career year with 10 goals in his last 16 games after only four all of last season.

DETROIT

Games this week

@ Pittsburgh, @ Nashville, vs. Los Angeles

Notes

Valtteri Filppula missed only one game with a cut above his ankle but he was very lucky that it wasn’t more serious. He is having a great season with nine goals and 23 points in 26 games. Pavel Datsyuk has six goals and 16 points in his last 11 games. Jimmy Howard is first in the NHL with 16 wins and is having a stellar season with a GAA of 1.89 and a .930 save percentage. Todd Bertuzzi has found a home on the top line with Datsyuk and Johan Franzen and coach Mike Babcock couldn’t be happier. Nicklas Lidstrom continues to amaze all at age 41 as he is fourth in points on Detroit with 19.

EDMONTON

Games this week

@ Phoenix @ San Jose

Notes

Edmonton plays only twice this week so we can recommend resting all your Oilers with the exception of dynamic rookie Ryan Nugent_Hopkinsn as well as Jordan Eberle. The Oilers will be rested on Thursday when they face a tired Coyotes team in Phoenix after they face the Ducks in Anaheim on Wednesday. Andy Sutton was hit with an indefinite suspension for his hit on the Hurricanes Alexei Ponikarovsky. Taylor Hall skated with his teammates on December 7 for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury on November 26. Sam Gagner finally scored on Saturday for the first time this season and now has nine points in 21 games. Ryan Whitney is still getting acclimated to the NHL after missing most of last season and the start of the 2011-12 season. He has only one assist and is a minus-five in 11 games but don’t give up on him as he is the Oilers best offensive defenseman.

FLORIDA

Games this week

vs. New Jersey, vs. Calgary, vs. Carolina

Notes

The Panthers play three home games this week and are rested and playing tired teams in two of them. Both times the opposing team faces their cross-state rivals from Tampa Bay as New Jersey is in Sunrise on Tuesday and Calgary on Friday. Jose Theodore celebrated his 600th NHL game by stopping all 40 shots in a 2-0 win over Boston. Theodore is 5-1-1 in his last seven and a major reason the Panthers are doing so well in the standings. Mikael Samuelsson played 9:48 minutes in his first game as a member of the Panthers. He last played on October 18th as he had been suffering from a groin injury and was dealt from the Canucks in the interim. Matt Bradley has been out since November 15 but is close to returning to action.

LOS ANGELES

Games this week

@ Boston, @ Columbus, @ Detroit

Notes

The Kings are on the road for all three games this week. Mike Richards suffered a concussion on December 1, and while he has not been on the ice since, he has been riding the stationary bike and that is good news because at least he is exercising. Justin Williams did not get a goal in the month of November. Slava Voynov has scored four times in limited action on the Kings blueline. He is seeing second power play time and deserves to be taken in deeper drafts. Scott Parse underwent hip surgery on December 2, and will miss four-to-five months as a result. Dustin Penner has scored two goals in his last two games after scoring only once in October and November.

MINNESOTA

Games this week

@ Winnipeg, vs. Chicago, vs. New York Islanders

Notes

Minnesota will be tired on Tuesday when they face Chicago as they are in Winnipeg on Monday while the Blackhawks cool their jets and wait for the Wild in Minnesota. It seems that no matter who the Wild put in net, they win. With Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding both ailing, Matthew Hackett played on Thursday as the Wild continued their winning ways with their sixth win in a row. They currently lead the NHL in points with 41 and anyone who predicted that before the start of the season can consider themselves on par with Nostradamus. The Wild have a few injuries with Cal Clutterbuck, Devin Setoguchi, Guillaume Latendresse, Marek Zidlicky and Justin Falk in addition to Harding, are out of action.

MONTREAL

Games this week

vs. New York Islanders, vs. Philadelphia, vs. New Jersey

Notes

Les Canadiens play all three games at home this week and will be waiting patiently and well rested on Saturday when a tired New Jersey squad comes into town after playing the Dallas Stars on Friday night. It was thought by fantasy players that Erik Cole could only be good in Carolina but he has 18 points in 29 games this season in his first season in Montreal to push those fears aside. It was another big setback for defenseman Andrei Markov. It was thought he was close to returning to action this past week but he underwent additional surgery on Monday and now will be out of action up to six more weeks with his injured knee. He has yet to play this season and has participated in only seven games since the start of the 2010-11 season. Louis Leblanc picked up his first point of his NHL career on December 3. The 18th overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft underwent major shoulder surgery in the off-season and it was thought that he may have needed six months to recover so to see him in the NHL seven months later, bodes well for Leblanc and the Canadiens.

NASHVILLE

Games this week

vs. Calgary, vs. Detroit, vs. St. Louis

Notes

Jordin Tootoo received a two game suspension for flattening goaltender Ryan Miller in his crease on Saturday but that did not seem to faze the Nashville forward who thought he was just trying to score. The Predators play all three games at home this week but are 4-5-3 this season thus far after winning 20-plus games at home every season since before the lockout in 2003-04. Rookie Craig Smith continues to lead the team in points with 22, two ahead of stud defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Martin Erat is having a typical Erat-type season with 16 points in 20 games. Top defensive pairing Weber and Suter are plus-14 and 12 respectively while the second pairing of Kevin Klein and Jonathan Blum are minus-14 and 11.

NEW JERSEY

Games this week

@ Tampa Bay, @ Florida, vs. Dallas, @ Montreal

Notes

The Devils play four times this week in a pair of back-to-back games. They are a tired team playing a rested team twice this week, on Tuesday in Florida and Saturday in Montreal after spending the previous nights in Tampa Bay Monday and at home versus Dallas Friday. They are the rested team on Friday as Dallas takes on the Islanders Thursday. Martin Brodeur continues to struggle this season with a 6-7-0 record and a .882 save percentage to go with a 3.27 GAA, but he’s come back too many times in his career to just give up on him, even though he is a second or third fantasy goalie in deeper pools at this time. Mattias Tedenby had only three assists in his first 24 games before the Devils decided to try to get him going by playing him with Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. He picked up his first goal of the season on Thursday, also tying a season high with four shots on goal.

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Games this week

@ Montreal, vs. Dallas, @ Minnesota

Notes

Michael Grabner has only eight goals and 12 points in 25 games this season after potting 33 goals in his rookie 2010-11 season. Nino Niederreiter has been able to work in the weight room this week despite suffering a concussion on Saturday. He was hit by the Stars Mark Fistric who picked up a three game suspension for his misdeed. Rick DiPietro is hurt yet again so Al Montoya has the starting job while Evgeni Nabokov is close to returning from a groin injury. Defenseman Andrew McDonald is due to miss the next two-four weeks with a leg injury. Matt Moulson has 14 goals and 22 points after scoring eight times and adding three assists in his last six games. He was named the NHL’s first star for the week ending December 4 after a four goal game on Saturday.

NEW YORK RANGERS

Games this week

vs. Dallas, @ St. Louis, @ Phoenix

Notes

Anton Stralman played in only his second game for the Rangers on Thursday as he replaced the concussed Michael Sauer in the lineup. Stralman should get some power play time when he is playing. Marc Staal is starting to skate for the first time in a long time as he tries to return from a concussion suffered last season and has kept him on the shelf for the entire 2011-12 season thus far. Michael Rupp has started to skate after undergoing knee surgery on November 9 and is slated to return before Christmas if there are no setbacks. Artem Anisimov’s antics after scoring on Thursday touched off a mini-brawl that had players on both teams saying that Anisimov went too far in his celebration. Anisimov’s fantasy owners did not mind as in addition to the goal, he picked up 16 minutes in penalties to give him 26 this season. Brad Richards leads the Rangers in points with 24 but Ryan Callahan is a much better fantasy player as Richards is ahead of him only in assists (and points) while Callahan has more goals, power play goals, penalty minutes and plus/minus.

OTTAWA

Games this week

@ Buffalo, vs. Boston, vs. Pittsburgh

Notes

The Senators play three games in four nights so look for Craig Anderson to see most of the action in goal although Alexander Auld could see action in one game. Milan Michalek leads the NHL in goals with 18 heading into Friday’s action. Matt Carkner has been out all season with a knee injury. He will be good for an occasional point as well as plenty of penalty minutes. Peter Regin is back skating after suffering a shoulder surgery on Oct. 20. Chris Neil is back after missing nine games with an ankle injury. He is a nice combination of penalty minutes and points.

PHILADELPHIA

Games this week

@ Washington, @ Montreal, vs. Boston

Notes

Claude Giroux is leading the NHL in points with 37, two ahead of Toronto’s Phil Kessel. He is also tied for the league lead in game winning goals with five, along with Johan Franzen of the Red Wings. James van Riemsdyk returned to action on Wednesday and lined up alongside Daniel Briere and Wayne Simmonds. As well as Claude Giroux has been fantasy-wise, the best player in fantasy pools could very well be Scott Hartnell who has 13 goals, 24 points, is a plus-15 to go with 30 penalty minutes and six power play goals. Not too shabby. Ilya Bryzgalov has been a major disappointment. His record is okay as he is 12-5-2, but his 2.84 GAA and .898 save percentage is really hurting your stats in fantasy pools as he was most likely a very high draft pick or you spent a lot of money on him.

PHOENIX

Games this week

@ Anaheim, vs. Edmonton, vs. New York Rangers

Notes

The Coyotes play three in four nights so expect to see Jason LaBarbera in goal once instead of the red-hot Mike Smith. Phoenix will be tired on Thursday when they are home to the rested Oilers as the Coyotes are in Anaheim Wednesday. Smith was pulled on Thursday after giving up five goals in two periods to the Red Wings but his play overall has been outstanding. Ray Whitney joined an exclusive club as he picked up the 600th assist of his NHL career, becoming the 75th player to do so. Coach Dave Tippett is thrilled with the play of 20-year-old defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson who leads the Coyotes in defenseman goals with five and can only see him getting better. Good news on the Michal Rozsival front as he has been cleared for contact after suffering a concussion on opening night.

PITTSBURGH

Games this week

vs. Detroit, @ Ottawa, vs. Buffalo

Notes

The Penguins are hoping that superstar Sidney Crosby is back for the Detroit game after holding him out of the lineup two games this past week when he it appeared he suffered a whiplash in the game against Boston on December 6. The Penguins are dealing with a lot of other injuries as well as a total of 10 players are out of action including: Kris Letang (concussion), Jordan Staal (face), Richard Park (lower body), Dustin Jeffrey and others.

ST. LOUIS

Games this week

vs. New York Rangers, @ Nashville, vs. Columbus

Notes

The Blues play three games in four nights so look for both Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott to share the net. Elliott continues to be lights out as he leads all NHL goalies with a 1.56 GAA and a .944 save percentage to go with an 11-2-0 record. Jason Arnott hit a milestone on Thursday, playing in his 1,200th NHL game. Ian Cole and Chris Porter each scored on Thursday and there are not too many times you can write that Cole, Porter scored a game. B.J. Crombeen (shoulder) is practicing with the Blues, but he's not taking any contact. Coach Ken Hitchcock is happy with the play of Matt D’Agostini and has played him on the second line with Patrik Berglund and David Perron. Nice to see Perron back in uniform after he missed 13 months with a concussion.

SAN JOSE

Games this week

@ Colorado, vs. Colorado, vs. Edmonton

Notes

Martin Havlat continues to struggle as he has only one goal this season. The Sharks play a home-and-home series with Colorado this week and if there are tempers flaring look for Ryane Clowe and Brad Winchester to add to their penalty minute totals. Brent Burns has been a big disappointment points-wise this season with only four goals and nine points in 25 games but his plus-10 rating will help you fantasy-wise. Brad Winchester replaced Patrick Marleau on the first line Thursday and scored his third of the season, while Marleau continues to slump with only one point in his last seven games. Dan Boyle and Colin White are the only Sharks with a minus rating at one and three respectively.

TAMPA BAY

Games this week

vs. New Jersey, vs. Calgary, @ Columbus

Notes

Martin St. Louis was one game away from 500 consecutive NHL games on Thursday when he took a puck in the face at practice and suffered facial and nasal fractures, putting him out of the lineup indefinitely. Mathieu Garon has been between the pipes for the last two games for the Lightning as Dwayne Roloson continues to struggle. Mattias Ohlund has suffered a setback in his recovery from arthroscopic surgery on both knees and there is no timetable for his return. Steve Stamkos has come on after a poor start and now has 16 goals and 30 points in 28 games to go with a plus-nine rating and 30 penalty minutes.

TORONTO

Games this week

vs. Carolina, @ Buffalo, vs. Vancouver

Notes

The Maple Leafs will be a tired team on Saturday when a rested Canucks squad comes to town as Toronto is in Buffalo to play the Sabres on Friday. Toronto welcomed back James Reimer to the starting lineup on December 3 and that can only help as they are getting back their top netminder. Jonas Gustavsson did well in relief of Reimer, although he did have his troubles from time-to-time. Colby Armstrong is slated to return to the lineup on December 9 and the Maple Leafs sent prospect Joe Colborne to the minors in anticipation of the return of Armstrong. Clarke MacArthur is also expected back in the lineup on Friday after missing one game with a shoulder injury. After a 30 goal season last year, Nikolai Kulemin has not scored a goal in 21 straight games for the Maple Leafs.

VANCOUVER

Games this week

@ Columbus, @ Carolina, @ Toronto

Notes

Vancouver will be rested and waiting for the Maple Leafs in Toronto Saturday as they play in Buffalo on Friday. Christopher Higgins and David Booth are out of action up front so the Canucks recalled Bill Sweatt from the minors on an emergency basis. Roberto Luongo was forced to leave Tuesday’s game after taking a puck to his throat but was able to play on Thursday in his hometown of Montreal. It’s nice to see Mason Raymond back in action after he suffered a compression fracture in his back during the Stanley Cup Final in June. He scored his first goal of the season Tuesday.

WASHINGTON

Games this week

vs. Philadelphia. @ Winnipeg, @ Colorado

Notes

Alex Ovechkin scored a beautiful goal on Wednesday, his first in six games and hopefully he is ready to break out of his season long funk. He flew back to Russia before the start of the season for the funeral of a family member and we wonder if that has been causing his slow start this year. Defenseman John Carlson is hot of late with seven points in his last three games. Mike Green is skating but did not accompany the team on a two game road trip. He has been out of action since November 11 and hopefully is now day-to-day with a groin injury. Alexander Semin returned to the Washington lineup on Wednesday. He is having a terrible season with five goals and 10 points in 24 games. Thank goodness that he has 34 penalty minutes for his fantasy owners.

WINNIPEG

Games this week

vs. Minnesota, vs. Washington, vs. Anaheim

Notes

The Jets are rested on Saturday when they face a tired Anaheim team as the Ducks have to travel from Chicago on Friday evening. Evander Kane leads the Jets with 14 goals and 21 points in 26 games. Tobias Enstrom (broken collarbone) has started skating with his teammates again but Enstrom, who suffered his injury on October 31, could still be a few weeks away from returning to action. Ondrej Pavelec is 10-9-4 with a 2.99 GAA and a .906 save percentage this season but has won his last three starts, giving up only three goals in the process and stopping 95 of 98 shots. If the Jets make it to the playoffs, their fans will give them a huge boost during home games as they are louder than any other arena in the NHL.